Nearly 30 years ago, as billionaire Jocelyn Wildenstein’s fabulously juicy divorce captivated the global aristocracy and the common reader, the feline-featured socialite held court in a corner of the Manhattan townhouse that she was still permitted to use.
Newly christened by the newspapers as the ‘Bride of Wildenstein’, Jocelyn, then 52, served champagne to a New York Magazine profile writer and batted down speculation that her increasingly bizarre cat-like appearance had nothing to do with cosmetic surgery.
‘If I show you pictures of my grandmother, what you see is these eyes – cat eyes – and high cheekbones,’ the Swiss-born beauty told New York Magazine in 1997.
At the time, Jocelyn was ending her marriage to French art dealer Alec Wildenstein, the descendant of a family worth billions and believed to be in possession of the world’s largest private collection of masterpieces, vaults of paintings and a rumored, long hidden and priceless work by Johannes Vermeer.
The couple’s property portfolio included a ranch in Kenya with a 366-strong staff, a castle in France and the 25,000-square-foot brownstone on East 64th Street, where Jocelyn had been relegated to certain rooms during certain hours amid the very messy public end to her tumultuous 21-year marriage.
Indeed, fissures had shown early in their romance.
Nearly 30 years ago, as billionaire Jocelyn Wildenstein’s fabulously juicy divorce captivated the global aristocracy and the common reader, the feline-featured socialite (pictured here in 1998) held court in a corner of the Manhattan townhouse that she was still permitted to use.
At the time, Jocelyn was ending her marriage to French art dealer Alec Wildenstein (pictured), the descendant of a family worth billions and believed to be in possession of the world’s largest private collection of masterpieces, vaults of paintings and a rumored, long hidden and priceless work by Johannes Vermeer.
Alec and Jocelyn eloped in Las Vegas on April 30, 1978, and would have two children together – but, of course, the romance wouldn’t last. (Jocelyn is pictured here with her daughter Diane).
According to Alec, Jocelyn’s obsession with plastic surgery began about a year after their wedding in 1978. They underwent ‘his-and-her eyelifts,’ he said, after his new bride complained that his eyes looked baggy.
‘She was crazy,’ Alec told Vanity Fair in 1998. ‘She was thinking that she could fix her face like a piece of furniture. Skin does not work that way. But she wouldn’t listen.’
A friend told Vanity Fair that they couldn’t recall a time when Jocelyn, ‘wasn’t healing from something.’ Alec would later complain to a divorce judge that his wife’s looks were ‘scaring people.’
Jocelyn, however, claimed that it was Alec who was preoccupied with youth and hated ‘to be with old people.’ And as both their appearances changed, their marriage disintegrated.
In September 1997, Alec was led away from their townhouse in handcuffs. The husband and estranged wife gave police different explanations of how a gun ended up in his hand.
Jocelyn said that, upon coming home early from a trip to Africa in 1999, she found Alec wearing only a towel and a naked blonde woman in the bedroom – only for her husband to grab a 9mm pistol and point it at her.
Alec said he mistook Jocelyn’s bodyguards – one of whom called the police – for burglars and put the gun down as soon as he realized his mistake.
Regardless, police arrested him, and the billionaire spent 16 hours in custody on charges of menacing. He was released on his own recognizance and ordered to stay away from Jocelyn.
Sadly, domestic strife and even violence would haunt Jocelyn for decades, through her eventual $2.5 billion divorce settlement with Alec, her ever-changing visage, dubious bankruptcy claims and a volatile relationship with a fashion designer more than two decades her junior, Lloyd Klein.
It was Klein, 57, who announced this week that Wildenstein had died in her sleep on December 31 of a pulmonary embolism. The couple was staying in a luxury hotel in Paris where they had taken up residence.
‘An icon is gone,’ Klein told the French media, saying his longtime fiancee had passed away at the age of 79, even as other outlets reported that Jocelyn was 84. (She had told reporters various stories about her age.)
Indeed, Jocelyn was legendary, followed by more than 1.1 million fans on Instagram and instantly recognizable to many as ‘Catwoman.’ Her love of everything wild marked a steady theme throughout her life.
Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, around 1940, Jocelyn Perisset was the daughter of a department store buyer and a housewife.
By her teenage years, she had begun dating a Swiss movie producer and moved to Paris, armed with only her svelte figure, pixie features and a fearless spirit.
Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, around 1940, Jocelyn Perisset (pictured here) was the daughter of a department store buyer and a housewife.
She claimed to have flown on private jets in her 20s, bragging that Saudi Arabian arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi’s plane featured ‘a bedroom and a bathroom and a bidet.’ The beauty’s jet-setting lifestyle would later fuel rumors – despite her denials – that she’d worked for a high-end European madame.
By the time she met her future husband, she had been in a five-year relationship with another filmmaker, this one Italian.
Alec, too, was romantically involved and living with a woman when he first laid eyes on Jocelyn in 1977 at his 66,000-acre ranch in Kenya. He was inspecting the family property; she was on safari with friends.
On their first day together, Alec killed a lion during a 5am hunt – and the pair dabbed its blood on their neck and ate the animal’s heart.
Jocelyn said of the rituals: ‘You must eat a part of the heart of your game. It’s legend. Maybe to take the power of the lion. It’s a respect of the lion. It became like a certain bond right away.’
The couple eloped in Las Vegas on April 30, 1978, and would have two children together – but, of course, the romance wouldn’t last.
In the final divorce settlement, Jocelyn ended up with $2.5 billion and an annual $100 million payment for 13 years. The money would only fuel the suspected excesses.
Her appearance would become increasingly drastic in the decades after her divorce. The corners of her eyes stretched ever further back narrowing her gaze in a decidedly feline stare, as her lips and cheeks ballooned so much that her face looked perpetually swollen – the distortion affecting her speech.
Barely able to blink, Jocelyn barely resembled the lithe, elfin Swiss beauty who stared out coquettishly in photos from her youth.
Estimates have placed the costs of Jocelyn’s cosmetic work as high as $4 million – even though she continued to insist she’d had no surgeries. And as Jocelyn played coy about her lynx-like look, she spent much of the Wildenstein family money on real cats.
She owned a pet lynx and a black leopard. At the family’s 66,000-acre African ranch, she kept two tigers in a bulletproof glass cave.
In 2003, Jocelyn found love again with Klein.
He dutifully maintained her line that the feline features came naturally – the ‘high cheekbones and long hair,’ as Jocelyn put it, which she compared to Brigitte Bardot. But the pair made headlines for more than Jocelyn’s unusual countenance. They were arrested in 2016 after a brawl in her Trump World Tower apartment.
Jocelyn sank her claws into Klein’s face and scratched him with scissors, while he allegedly shoved her to the floor.
Both were arrested and charged after the incident; charges against Klein were dropped in January 2017, and charges against Jocelyn were dismissed the following month.
In 2003, Jocelyn found love again with a fashion designer more than two decades her junior, Lloyd Klein (pictured with Jocelyn in 2006).
Jocelyn and Klein were arrested in 2016 after a brawl in her Trump World Tower apartment. (Jocelyn is pictured here in her mugshot).
Jocelyn sank her claws into Klein’s face and scratched him with scissors, while he allegedly shoved her to the floor. (Klein’s injuries are shown here).
Klein later made up with Jocelyn with two apology gifts, a 200-carat ring composed of emeralds and diamonds and a 32 ½ carat pear-shaped snakeskin inspired engagement ring.
The designer popped the question in July 2017 at the Versace Mansion in Miami, where they’d enjoyed time with their good friend Gianni Versace, who was murdered by a crazed serial killer in 1997.
Four months after the proposal, the couple was arrested again after neighbors heard screaming coming from their apartment. Police found a shattered casserole dish on the kitchen floor, bruises to Jocelyn’s neck and arms and a cut to Lloyd’s forehead; both were charged with misdemeanor assault.
Despite Jocelyn’s fabulous wealth, she dubiously declared bankruptcy in 2018 – as financial disclosures showed more than $15 million in real estate, a Bentley and an extensive wardrobe.
The unlikely pair, however, remained together and were reportedly considering a reality show when Jocelyn died this week.
